discovering a simpiler life

Wednesday, 2 September 2015

In my kitchen ~ September 2015

Man oh man this year is ticking by, it's that time of the month that we play along with Celia from Fig Jam and Lime Cordial who hosts the wonderfully voyeuristic In my kitchen series with a multitude of other food pawn stars enthusiasts from around the world. Grab a wine or a cuppa, whatever takes your fancy, and take a look at what has been happening here in my kitchen...I'm so excited.....

I am absolutely super duper excited to share with you all, my almost completed, long awaited, new kitchen!!! Now, let me fill you in...just a little over 10 years ago we brought our modest 3 bedroom existing 1950's home. Over the years we have changed the colour of the house, added a new back sunroom, replaced the mud bottomed garage with a brick concrete man cave haven along with making all of the backyard an edible garden where once only a New Zealand Christmas tree, a gum and a mammoth wild daisy bush abided.

You'll have to just trust me on this as I stupidly don't have a before photo of the kitchen, but it was hideous but clean and functional. 5 years ago we painted the kitchen that had lime green cupoboards, small tiles, a red feature wall and the others were cream. We made the cupboards a grey/white in 2 tones, changed the handles on the cupboard doors and hid from our visitors the retro wallpapered, chipping, horrid interiors. Yes, I've become one of those 'beige' people, but when you have lived with lots of weird and wonderful houses that were multicoloured, I want plain and classic. I've been blessed with a husband who can. So a few weekends ago, after weeks and weeks of toil in the mancave, Mr.GW along with a great mate ripped out the old and started the new.

Sorry about the photo quality but I was in the way so had to be quick....you can make out the old lime green on the left that was hiding behind some cupboards.

Mr.GW put so much time into this beautiful Tasmanian oak and Victorian ash bench top - it's just gorgeous. Notice the new double sink? That my kitchen junkie friends is a revelation!! Being able to have a sink of soapy water AND being able to empty something is ah-mazing!!! We were also extremely lucky to get all of the cabinetry for almost nothing, a slab of beer to be exact as long as it was taken out and taken away from the owner.

It is second hand but it is as clean as a whistle and you wouldn't even know.

Mr. GW rebuilt it to fit and ta-dah!! Good as new.

before above and after below...still waiting on a shelf that will house the microwave so it's off the bench top and some where I can put my recipe books and a few other bits and pieces.

We still have a way to go - tiles, a shelf under the cupboards on the left to house the microwave off the bench, doors, dishwasher under the kitchen aid and a paint. The large draws are fabulous too and have a soft close that closes them for you...seriously, we have become such a precious bunch!! First world problems hey.....I am one happy gluttonous wife and have been cooking my little heart out in there.

Now, it's 2 weeks since I first started this post, and we now have tiles!! You can see the original old tiles above, and new ones below...they originally were a lovely mission brown but we painted them but they would chip and I just hated them so having new tiles is just heaven. It was Mr. GW's first attempt at tiling and he worked it like a boss. There is no end to that man's talents, I'm truly the luckiest gluttonous wife I know!

Even though it's not quite finished and it's small and modest, it's my happy place and it's my home.

41 comments
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That is coming along very nicely and I thought of you on Saturday night....I picked up my crochet rug and hook. My sister wanted to start knitting a scarf so I went to her place around 2pm and we started knitting and crocheting for a while then we made home made pasta (her first time) and we had our yummy sauce for the top.....we were so thrilled that we made a start again and I'm back into it. Sienna wants to learn how to knit and I told her (in that moment she wanted to knit) that we didn't have any knitting needles so she got some long wooden skewers out and used them........that girl is always thinking creatively...nothing stops her. She got onto you tube to learn how to cast on and then I helped her starting on the rows as I'm sure I was 15 when I last knitted.....anyway..I'm back on the crochet and it feels good. Regards Kathy A, Brisbane

What an incredible transformation! It's beautiful - so fresh and modern. And hubby built the counter tops? That's really impressive too. That unit from Bunnings looks perfect now too in your new kitchen. No crochet??! (Only joking!)

Congratulations! I'm always happy when I see someone has a new kitchen because I pretend it's me with the new kitchen as mine is shoebox size. I love love love double sinks, in our current house we only have one sink and a tiny useless sink. Whennnn we do our kitchen reno I'm going double sink all the way!

Oh Jan, it's looking gorgeous! I so know about those old cupboards, isn't it nice seeing them gone. What a great job on the bench tops. I'm hoping to have some of the old timber turned into bench tops. Oooh, a double sink and with running water. Are you still happy with the drawer unit? That's a cracker of an idea! Bet you are as pleased as punch, congratulations :)

Thanks so much Maree. We love the drawer unit - fits in perfectly and saved us a heap of $$$$ - love all of those drawers. Absolutely pleased as punch, I keep pumping hubbies tyres up telling him how fabulous it is...oh and feeding him :) x

Oooh beautiful! I love love LOVE looking through other people's kitchens! How lovely that you have a can-do husband! Great job with that lovely bench AND retrofitting a second hand kitchen. It looks so nice - I'm so pleased that it wasn't thrown away and will get lots of love in a new home. One mans treasure and all that :-) I have to say, I am a big fan of a double sink as well.

Jan, what a thrill to see your new kitchen! I'm tickled for you that your happy place is nearing completion. Sounds like your other home improvements are wonderful additions/renovations, too. It all takes time, but it's oh so worth it. YAY!!!

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About Me

My name is Jan and I'm a foodie who also has a new found love of crochet. I'm sharing my passion for cooking food from the heart and our garden and trying to be as healthy and unprocessed as possible. I'm trying to live a simpler, slower more deliberate life which is both challenging and rewarding.
Thanks for reading!